007 First Light swaps FSR 3.1 for PSSR 2.0 on PS5 Pro after fast integration

007 First Light will use Sony’s upgraded PSSR 2.0 upscaling on PlayStation 5 Pro instead of AMD FSR 3.1.5, after IO Interactive found that Sony’s newer reconstruction tech delivered a stronger image on the upgraded console. The studio is still using AMD FSR 3.1.5 on other console platforms, but the PS5 Pro version is being treated differently because PSSR 2.0 gave the team cleaner and sharper results on that hardware.

IO Interactive says the switch was not a long or difficult process. Principal Render Engineer Jon Rocatis said the team integrated the upgraded PSSR in about one day and was happy with the result almost immediately. He also said the studio did not need per scene tuning or special case work, which is notable because image reconstruction tools often need careful adjustment across different environments and lighting conditions.

PSSR 2.0 is said to improve fine detail, foliage, and image stability on PS5 Pro

The main benefit appears to be image quality. Technical Director Henrik Schlichter said the upgraded PSSR brought a meaningful improvement across the game, with a cleaner, more stable, and sharper picture. The improvement is said to be most visible in areas that are usually difficult for upscalers, such as fine detail, dense foliage, and close up character scenes.

The upgraded PSSR also reduces shimmering and flickering artifacts. That should help in scenes with high frequency detail, where thin objects, leaves, hair, fabric, and small geometry can often break apart or look unstable while the camera moves. For a cinematic action game like 007 First Light, that could matter a lot because clean presentation is part of the James Bond appeal.

On PC, Nvidia GPU owners will get DLSS 4.5 Super Resolution and Dynamic Frame Generation. That should make the PC version the strongest option for image quality and performance on compatible hardware. However, path tracing and DLSS Ray Reconstruction will not be available at launch. Those features are planned for a later update during the summer.

For consoles, the PS5 Pro version now looks like the strongest option because of PSSR 2.0. The improvement does not mean other versions will look poor, but it does show that Sony’s reconstruction technology is becoming more useful for developers when it is easy to integrate and improves image stability without extra tuning.

007 First Light launches on May 27 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S. A Nintendo Switch 2 version is also planned for the third quarter, and IO Interactive has said that version is already in good shape.

The bigger takeaway is that PSSR 2.0 may become a more important part of PS5 Pro development if other studios see similar results. Fast integration, sharper fine detail, and fewer image artifacts are exactly the kinds of gains developers want from an upscaler. For 007 First Light, that was enough for IO Interactive to move away from FSR 3.1 on PS5 Pro and give Sony’s newer tech the lead role on the upgraded console.